6/23/2005 @ 12:01AM

Most Luxurious Honeymoon Destinations

Having just pulled off the biggest logistical challenge of your life, paid to put your caterer’s children through law school, danced with your most hirsute in-laws and made some rather sweeping promises in front of everyone you know, is there a better time to get out of town? In the past, the honeymoon used to be a chance for a newly married couple to get to know each other better. Today, it’s a chance to recuperate.

But you still want it to be romantic. After all, the honeymoon is that lovely grace period newlyweds give themselves before returning to reality. For many couples, that means somewhere the two of you can be alone together, but not so alone you can’t pick up the phone and ring for room service–or another bottle of champagne and a basket of rose petals.

Whether they opt for a private ocean view or a balcony overlooking their favorite city, honeymooners are often willing to indulge in one final blaze of nuptial glory, damning the torpedoes and full steaming their American Express cards ahead. Of course, not everyone can afford to do what golfer Tiger Woods, second on our list of The Celebrity 100, did last fall when he shelled out a reported $57 million for his extended honeymoon with
Elin
Nordegren
Elin Nordegren
on the yacht The Privacy. (The yacht was also Elin’s wedding gift.)

But people don’t hold back when it comes to their honeymoons.
Allen
Kay
Allen Kay
, a researcher at the Washington, D.C.-based Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), says that even the average American honeymooner wants something special and outspends other kinds of travelers by a factor of more than three.

So, how much should a honeymoon cost? In general, Americans spend an average of $3,700 on their honeymoons, according to a survey by Modern Bride magazine. Just as the general yardstick for the price of an engagement ring is two months of the groom’s salary, if the average annual household income for a family of two, according to the U.S. Census, is $61,129, then it is possible to extrapolate that most honeymoons cost about 6% of a household’s annual income. For a household earning $100,000 per year, that would be $6,000; for one earning $500,000, it would be around $30,000. (Of course, some couples will spend far more, and others far less.)

Whatever they spend, they are spending a lot. Fairchild Bridal Group‘s annual American Wedding Survey found this year that American couples spend about $7 billion annually on their honeymoons, accounting for 1.17% of the American travel market as a whole (valued by TIA at about $600 billion, annually).

Honeymoon spending is high for a number of reasons. For one thing, honeymooners are unlikely to stay with family or friends, favoring instead plush resorts or hotels that push up the overall price tag. And unlike business travel, there are no expenses for which you will be reimbursed. (Note to any groom who considers expensing his honeymoon: Don’t. You may as well tell your new bride that you stole her wedding ring.) Moreover, honeymoons are often subsidized by parents, grandparents and other relatives, which increases the amount of money couples have to spend. In addition, the feeling that the honeymoon is a once-in-a-lifetime event leads people to splurge for that third bottle of champagne without the usual second thoughts.

The increasing prevalence of second marriages, however, means that the nature of the honeymoon is changing. “People getting married for the second time are turning both the wedding and the honeymoon into a family event. Extended families and multiple generations are coming along on what we’re calling ‘family-moons,’” says Kay.

Bill
Fischer
Bill Fischer
concurs. He is the founder of
Fischer Travel
, an elite New York travel agency that charges well-heeled members, like ex-
Citigroup
Chairman Sanford Weill, a $20,000 initiation fee and a $5,000 annual charge, all in addition to service fees incurred when actually booking the vacation. “We just finished planning a four-month honeymoon all over the world for a couple,” Fischer says. “They’re going to Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia, New Zealand and India. The bride had her sister come over for three weeks, now her parents are there and her in-laws are meeting them in China.” Fischer estimates the cost of the honeymoon at $500,000.

According to
Donna
Heiderstadt
Donna Heiderstadt
, the travel editor at Modern Bride, today’s newlyweds are increasingly older, well-traveled and have more discretionary income than ever before. “The average age for marriage now is 27 for the woman and 29 for the man. So they’ve seen the basic destinations. Now they want to experience something that neither has been to before, so they can share it together, like a romantic safari in South Africa or New Zealand. The beach has been done to death,” she says.

To compile our list of the Most Luxurious Honeymoon Destinations we defined romance as including the following elements: luxury, seclusion, expense, privacy, excellent food and wine, sunshine and no kids allowed (no “family-moons” for us unless the children are provided with suitable on-site distractions). Instead of choosing the well-trammeled beaches of Nassau, Jamaica or Acapulco, we selected lesser-known resorts and private islands. While destinations like Hawaii made Modern Bride‘s list–as well as ours–for a reason, untouched resorts in Bhutan or on Great Mercury Island, a private island off the coast of New Zealand, certainly deserve some amorous attention of their own.

“People come to us, and they say we want to take over an island, castle, villa. Where do you suggest we do that?” says Bill Fischer. “We are there to fulfill their fantasies.” If it’s your first time as a honeymooner–or even your second, third or fourth–we suggest you let your fantasies run wild. Read on to find out how. Bon voyage!